The bond for a Fort Smith man who does business as a children’s entertainer called Sondance the Clown was reduced from $100,000 to $50,000 Monday, but only if he also wears an ankle monitor, which allows him to be tracked 24 hours a day.

Thomas Harold Morgan, 47, is charged with one count of distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child and three counts of distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, second and subsequent offense.

The first charge is a Class C felony punishable by three to 10 years in prison; the remaining charges are Class B felonies, each count punishable by five to 20 years in prison.

Fort Smith attorney Coy Rush, representing Morgan, sought to have his bond reduced to $25,000 to $30,000, but members of Morgan’s family who attended the bond reduction hearing Monday still appeared pleased with the reduction to $50,000.

Dorothy Morgan, Thomas Morgan’s mother, told Circuit Court Judge James Cox she and her husband were willing to put their St. Peters, Mo., condominium up as collateral for the bond, provide her son with a place to stay until his charges are resolved and assure he makes all court appearances.

Dorothy Morgan said she was aware that she and her husband could lose their home if her son skipped out on his bond.

Thomas Morgan told Cox he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his parents’ home while out on bond.

Deputy prosecutor Jeff Claybrook argued against the reduction, telling Cox there is a high likelihood Morgan will be convicted and it’s possible he will face new charges, in addition to those that already could net him up to 70 years in prison.

Alvey Matlock, the Fort Smith Police Department’s network manager and computer forensic technician, testified there was an “extraordinary amount of forensic evidence” found in Morgan’s home when it was searched by law enforcement, a preliminary review of which showed evidence of child pornography, including a video of a boy between 10 and 12 being raped by multiple men.

Matlock told Cox it would probably take several months to complete a forensic examination of the evidence found in Morgan’s apartment, based on the volume.

Cox agreed to lower Morgan’s bond to $50,000, if he was able to find a bail bond company willing to post bail while he stays with his parents in Missouri and if he wears an ankle monitor with GPS. Cox had already imposed bond conditions prohibiting Morgan from having any contact with anyone under 18 and prohibiting him from accessing the Internet or possessing any device with access to the Internet.